7RZDUGVD*UDQG'HDORQVXEVLGLHVDQGFOLPDWHFKDQJH - André de Moor

For the purpose of this article, however, we will only summarize the key relevant points.1 What is absolutely crucial in identifying a subsidy is the choice of the benchmark, both in theory and in practice. [...] The OECD and the World Bank estimated the underpricing of energy in the early 1990s at $US250 to $US300 billion annually.7 In the post-Soviet era, the transition to a market economy forced governments to increase energy prices substantially, thereby cutting consumer subsidies. [...] 6RXUFH: calculations based on OECD Economic Outlook, several years Table 5 clearly shows the increase of nominal oil prices in the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, as well as the decline in the 1990s. [...] If OECD countries promise to remove their fossil fuel subsidies and assist non-OECD countries in their reform through financial and technology transfers, the non-Annex-I countries would have to join the regime of the Kyoto Protocol and accept national ceilings on GHG emissions.13 Most feasible would be a phased removal of energy subsidies, gradually decreasing the level of support, and differentia. [...] The OECD and the World Bank estimated the underpricing of energy in the early 1990s at $US250 to $US300 billion annually.